The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1887-11-11
Prohibition vs.. Regulation.

an an iCitt tli ltlrl worm -tfftt tt.tLft
ReCtrr fCT october Mr.. u. x. Locke
petroleum '. NssAhy has undertaken
10 prove that tne only remedy for the
evils Ot tG'. liQyor tTaliic is in It's COM
plsJe suppression hy prohibilo-y enact
rlents. TIE logic OF the writer so
largely par,s'es Of ne eXtTavsgant vein
~ nUmor which hs worked into hi7
NasHy papers that ons IS Inclined to
doubt whether some OF hrs propositions
ars seriously main aimed. Assuming
that the a tlic Ia liquors is "a greater
cTlme' tnaE the most heiuOUs Offenses
Hg 1iust society which are forbidden by
law, he insists that the traffic should be
treated IN The sscne way-hy stern Pro-
hibttiOi. As society does not regulate
burglary, arson. larceucv ana other
crimes. he maintains that IL IS absurd TO
attempt To regulate the evil of intem
peTauce by license laws. This IS the
eN'rrIn- ground TO which the fanatics
of Prohibition have heen driven. II il
only on the assumption thai the selling
OF a glfs' of beer or the drinking of il
is as great a crime as robbery or forgery
thar lhey can Justify their penal laws
for its suppression anc their assaults on
peTsuaai liberty. BIT the common
sense of mankind utterly repu1iates
such an assump ion.
The Pr"hioytiNnis,s themselves, who
scott ~ all attempts 20 regulate" the
liquor traffic, propose only a -difTereLt
fOrSa of regulation from that of the ad-
vocAtes OF license. They demand the
suppression OF the saloon, and uff-r as
substitute Tor it the safe dTam-shOp
and the drug store. These are their
nodes OF regulation. The enter
pCisiuC drug clerk in Wichita. Kansas,
who VS. i-sJ week sentenced To i'm
pTjsOCUrut for seventeen years, only
violated the method of regulation adopt
ed 'I t.a7 S'a'e Iu regard 70 the liquor
tCall.'. Hg merely overlooked tha legal
tOTme:ify ut DEBTORS certificate when
his thirsty cu-tomars applied for their
drau:s. - ,he aquari4ns fiud them
selves obliged 10 regulate what they
pretend 10 prohibit. After repeated
experiments their method OF regulation
has proved not only 4 dismal failure but
q fruitful source of evils hardly less
mischJgvous thar that which they pro-
p1s7 So sgDpress by fierce ard brutal
penal eL8t .usnfS.
In the opinion Cf Nj. Locke the taste
for liquors II not IA natural one. No
man. he says, twas ever born with an
appetite for liquor save those uniOr5u-
mates horn OF drunken parents" The
love OF drink, he goes on. "is matter
OF education, and the brewer aud his
agents, the sa'oon-kespars, are the
educators It IS difficult 10 imagine
where nr when Mr.. Locke gained his
ev.den"c. lie might say, with almost
as much propEiety. that the bakers and
butchers have cultivated the taste for
bread aud meat. Bat for the drinkers
there would be no brewers. no distiiIers
"a u ~ q NF "a 4.
saloon keeper. the ProhiSirionists have
shown, with their State ordained dram
shop, that there is : way of dispensing
with him without suppIass!Cg the ITaf-
&c IA liquor or the appetite foT it.
Ii is true enough that few people
crave the c0logIess and Idisagreea6!e
alcohol which constitutes the essential
spjut Of all icrueuted and distilled
liquors. IL ths.a coulG Le sOdnd 10
liCUoT 0thtr than this there would be no
need OF license laws and no suggest ion
OF UrChIbItOry penal codes. Bur for the
farueuled aud distilled vegetable Juices
the taste IT mankind S. and always has
been, almost as universal as the taste
for vegetables themselves. To say with
Mr.. Locke thai this is not q natural
tdS.e = 10 say that nature Is not n?ture.
There are unquestiOnab,y a good many
persons whose paiates could not be
pleasantly TiJiliaTed bv the most deli
ciOuS viuyagss, and to whom beer 10 an
61OmyuatiCu. These constitute the
active force ui the ProhibiTionis;s. and
there Is reason 10 suspect that the re-
Iormatory object sought bY most OF them
IS the forcing ot The world into cOu-
tOrniiy with their own taS' es. Because
they are physically so constituted as to
prefer rain water TO wine or beer. they
insist that the taste for these liquors
must be diseased and unnatural.
The question IS whether the manu-
fac,ure and sale OF liquors under wise
regulations shall be suppressed by dras-
tic penal statutes for the sake or a
mpsgative!y few who canuos restrain
theit aEpetlies, or an equally small
number VINO de 5Eaud that the world
shall be governed by their own canons
pt tgsye. Prohibition has never vet
reformed a druukaTd or deprived nf the
means of satisfying his appetite. Where
l- has Clo5sd the IiCrTSed saloons, the
0 c!uO house and ihe Illicit "di, r" have
flied the void. In Maine and Kansas
it has partially sUpprss sSed beer. the
chief o'J-c5 Of Prohibition hostility.
but the opportunities OF procuring the
more fiery intoNicdnts in ''mcdiciCaI''
gulse nave not been greatly Iessened.
IHiS, Instead Of promoting Prohibition,
operates as practical obstruction 10
tGat Tei0rmatOTy temperance movement
the steady progress of which NAV be
noted IN the diminishing consumption
or 5plCItu1IS llQuOTS- I1LfTq y. card